*TWELVE pounds ENTRY to Seven STARS Bar tomorrow*

[Blue Valkyrie]

Let kids into Dicks Bar and turn 7 Stars into a Real Ale bar and it'll become a goldmine.

 

[Dirk Lehmann's Python]

I can only conclude they are gambling on people taking it up when the weather gets colder?

They won't. 12 quid is a piss take.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Taybha]

I once asked for a Lager top in WSU, (not for me I hasten to add) the lad behind the counter disappeared for ages and on his return demonstrated that the only tops he could find were for the tea/coffee cups and would not fit.

Excellent customer service , staff going the extra mile makes waiting in the queue worthwhile .

 

[Postman Pat]

I'm amazed stuff like this gets such a reaction. Was it really busy before? I've never been in there so don't know.

If that's what the club want to do then just drink in Dicks / concourse / town surely ?

Yes it was packed before every game, and busy afterwards. Part of the problem was people going in there with kids, sitting down, getting out a packed lunch and not spending any money.

A couple of weeks ago when the Manc derby was on, I suggested to my son that we get to the club early to watch the game, we couldn't get in Dick's as he is only 16 and the concourse doesn't open till 1.30.

If the £12 came with programme, beer and pie voucher or £10 with soft drink and hot dog voucher, we would have been in there, as I'll buy that on the concourse anyway.

The club need to scrap this mistake and have a re-think. Surely they won't wait till the end of the season before making a change?

 

[Peter Grummit]

It's a classic 'cost-plus' business model that accountants love. The sports bar refit was top quality and will have cost a lot. Staffing, including doormen, will be relatively high cost for the turnover. The queues to get in previously will have suggested excess demand. So Barber thinks: "How much will I need to charge to make a return? If some people are put off then they'll drink in the concourses anyway".

In reality, the Club have completely misjudged the market. Much goodwill lost too: I know a few who now go to the Swan or Lewes/Brighton on principle rather than pay over the odds for plastic glasses and limited choice on the concourses.

#Together, but only when it suits the business model. Given the take-up, it's a lose-lose.

PG

 

[Hotchilidog]

What I find strange is the club's ostrich head-in-the-sand way of repeatedly sending out the same bland, yet somehow ridiculous, messaging around this.

When your own supporters are, pretty much exclusively, taking the piss then there's something wrong isn't there?

Just look at the responses: https://www.facebook.com/officialbhafc/posts/10154631802868139:0

My Albion supporting spectacles are definitely as blue and white tinted as you can possibly get, but even I can see how utterly ridiculous this is. I do not understand the club's thinking with regards to the Seven Stars at all. It just makes them look clueless. There is no logic to it at all, (particularly if this all about £40,000).

The club have basically withdrawn a family friendly facility away from the East Stand supporters, I cannot understand it all.

 

[Springal]

Yes it was packed before every game, and busy afterwards. Part of the problem was people going in there with kids, sitting down, getting out a packed lunch and not spending any money.

A couple of weeks ago when the Manc derby was on, I suggested to my son that we get to the club early to watch the game, we couldn't get in Dick's as he is only 16 and the concourse doesn't open till 1.30.

If the £12 came with programme, beer and pie voucher or £10 with soft drink and hot dog voucher, we would have been in there, as I'll buy that on the concourse anyway.

The club need to scrap this mistake and have a re-think. Surely they won't wait till the end of the season before making a change?

Gotcha, I did wonder if that was the problem, it filled up with people spending money. I can't help but think you are right, it needs to be some kind of bundled voucher thing, rather than just £12 for a program and to get into a pub. But then what do they do to the folk who have purchased season long passes. Bit of a mess and can't help feel someone in the commercial team is not quite in touch with the real world.

 

[Peter Grummit]

Yes it was packed before every game, and busy afterwards. Part of the problem was people going in there with kids, sitting down, getting out a packed lunch and not spending any money.

A couple of weeks ago when the Manc derby was on, I suggested to my son that we get to the club early to watch the game, we couldn't get in Dick's as he is only 16 and the concourse doesn't open till 1.30.

If the £12 came with programme, beer and pie voucher or £10 with soft drink and hot dog voucher, we would have been in there, as I'll buy that on the concourse anyway.

The club need to scrap this mistake and have a re-think. Surely they won't wait till the end of the season before making a change?

This is probably the face-saving answer, since it removes those who didn't spend and used it as a comfortable waiting area.

The few that have signed up would be offered the vouchers too.

PG

 

[chaileyjem]

Yup, its obviously utterly IMPOSSIBLE to have a proper decent sized pub / bar for fans, serving quality food in or anywhere near the Amex. Silly me, I forgot what country we're in again didn't I. Lets just be grateful for our overpriced, limp lukewarm burgers / hotdogs, the mediocre pies, and the interminable queues to get them.

The Amex might be a 21st century stadium, but the catering is right out of 1976.

Come on [MENTION=21064]easy[/MENTION]10 - there's lots of improvements that the club can make around service, quality and the range of its catering. I agree with you. But why keep arguing that the pies are "mediocre" (they're not), the queues are always "interminable" (they're not) and the catering is "right out of 1976" - if you mean the dark, dirty, smell of the "catering" offered up at the Goldstone - then its not. And also that the club doesn't have a fairly decent sized free bar for fans (it does . It has Dicks - what other club offers that for starters ?) .

 

[Easy 10]

Come on [MENTION=21064]easy[/MENTION]10 - there's lots of improvements that the club can make around service, quality and the range of its catering. I agree with you. But why keep arguing that the pies are "mediocre" (they're not), the queues are always "interminable" (they're not) and the catering is "right out of 1976" - if you mean the dark, dirty, smell of the "catering" offered up at the Goldstone - then its not. And also that the club doesn't have a fairly decent sized free bar for fans (it does . It has Dicks - what other club offers that for starters ?) .

Speaking as a patron of the WSU, I must admit I haven't bothered with the pies for a long time, as in my experience they were - at best - very hit and miss in quality. If they've improved beyond mediocre of late then that's encouraging, although the paucity of choice overall is still an issue IMO. And the queues ARE atrociously slow, because the staff are so unbelievably ponderous in processing each and every transaction. Now I don't expect to rock up at 2.45 and stroll straight up to the till for a pint, but on the last occasion, it took me 40 minutes to get served (as I skipped from one queue which had barely budged an inch in 15 minutes, and joined the back of another one which moved at glacial pace). And that was far from being a one-off. Not good enough.

Dicks is just poor, its got the look and feel of an airport lounge or a dentists waiting room. And there's nowhere near enough seating or shelves/tables to put your pint on. In a 30k stadium, the capacity is inadequate (especially if they've got the unbelievable cheek to actually charge an entry fee in the other supporters bar). Ever been to Torquay United ? They have this at their ground:

Boots and Laces its called, and its great. A proper little pub at the ground, and that's in a ground that holds 6,500. Would it not have been feasible to have something more along those lines on a grander scale at the Amex, instead of our ultra-modernist soulless inadequate art-deco bar at Dicks ?

It is what it is I suppose. All I really care about is the team, but I really feel zero incentive to turn up at the Amex for anything other than the game. Get in and get out as swiftly as possible, cos there's certainly nothing else there worth hanging around for, or spending any hard-earned on.

 

[KingstonSeagull]

Speaking as a patron of the WSU, I must admit I haven't bothered with the pies for a long time, as in my experience they were - at best - very hit and miss in quality. If they've improved beyond mediocre of late then that's encouraging, although the paucity of choice overall is still an issue IMO. And the queues ARE atrociously slow, because the staff are so unbelievably ponderous in processing each and every transaction. Now I don't expect to rock up at 2.45 and stroll straight up to the till for a pint, but on the last occasion, it took me 40 minutes to get served (as I skipped from one queue which had barely budged an inch in 15 minutes, and joined the back of another one which moved at glacial pace). And that was far from being a one-off. Not good enough.

Dicks is just poor, its got the look and feel of an airport lounge or a dentists waiting room. And there's nowhere near enough seating or shelves/tables to put your pint on. In a 30k stadium, the capacity is inadequate (especially if they've got the unbelievable cheek to actually charge an entry fee in the other supporters bar). Ever been to Torquay United ? They have this at their ground:

Boots and Laces its called, and its great. A proper little pub at the ground, and that's in a ground that holds 6,500. Would it not have been feasible to have something more along those lines on a grander scale at the Amex, instead of our ultra-modernist soulless inadequate art-deco bar at Dicks ?

It is what it is I suppose. All I really care about is the team, but I really feel zero incentive to turn up at the Amex for anything other than the game. Get in and get out as swiftly as possible, cos there's certainly nothing else there worth hanging around for, or spending any hard-earned on.

That and they always run out of bloody sausage rolls!

 

[portslade seagull]

No doubt the bar will be heaving tomorrow with staff fighting each other to actually serve someone

 

[Hillian1]

Speaking as a patron of the WSU, I must admit I haven't bothered with the pies for a long time, as in my experience they were - at best - very hit and miss in quality. If they've improved beyond mediocre of late then that's encouraging, although the paucity of choice overall is still an issue IMO. And the queues ARE atrociously slow, because the staff are so unbelievably ponderous in processing each and every transaction. Now I don't expect to rock up at 2.45 and stroll straight up to the till for a pint, but on the last occasion, it took me 40 minutes to get served (as I skipped from one queue which had barely budged an inch in 15 minutes, and joined the back of another one which moved at glacial pace). And that was far from being a one-off. Not good enough.

Dicks is just poor, its got the look and feel of an airport lounge or a dentists waiting room. And there's nowhere near enough seating or shelves/tables to put your pint on. In a 30k stadium, the capacity is inadequate (especially if they've got the unbelievable cheek to actually charge an entry fee in the other supporters bar). Ever been to Torquay United ? They have this at their ground:

Boots and Laces its called, and its great. A proper little pub at the ground, and that's in a ground that holds 6,500. Would it not have been feasible to have something more along those lines on a grander scale at the Amex, instead of our ultra-modernist soulless inadequate art-deco bar at Dicks ?

It is what it is I suppose. All I really care about is the team, but I really feel zero incentive to turn up at the Amex for anything other than the game. Get in and get out as swiftly as possible, cos there's certainly nothing else there worth hanging around for, or spending any hard-earned on.

You are trying to argue with The Minister of Propaganda for all thing Albion I'm afraid Easy.

You are spot on with your comments regarding all things WSU and also the quality of pies, however, Joseph will argue until you simply just cannot be arsed anymore.

 

[whitelion]

No doubt the bar will be heaving tomorrow with staff fighting each other to actually serve someone

Tomorrow?

 

[chaileyjem]

You are trying to argue with The Minister of Propaganda for all thing Albion I'm afraid Easy.

You are spot on with your comments regarding all things WSU and also the quality of pies, however, Joseph will argue until you simply just cannot be arsed anymore.

Easy has posted dozens of times about the food on offer elsewhere and its interesting getting the different perspectives.
I also agree fully that the service is inconsistent, the range of food is limited, the specials often sell out and the queues can be daunting but often aren't.
However Easy wasn't saying that . He said the pies are mediocre, the club doesn't offer a "free to get in" bar inside the stadium, the catering is "out of 1976" and the queues are always "interminable" for everyone, always. Do you think that too ?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Speaking as a patron of the WSU, I must admit I haven't bothered with the pies for a long time, as in my experience they were - at best - very hit and miss in quality. If they've improved beyond mediocre of late then that's encouraging, although the paucity of choice overall is still an issue IMO. And the queues ARE atrociously slow, because the staff are so unbelievably ponderous in processing each and every transaction. Now I don't expect to rock up at 2.45 and stroll straight up to the till for a pint, but on the last occasion, it took me 40 minutes to get served (as I skipped from one queue which had barely budged an inch in 15 minutes, and joined the back of another one which moved at glacial pace). And that was far from being a one-off. Not good enough.

Dicks is just poor, its got the look and feel of an airport lounge or a dentists waiting room. And there's nowhere near enough seating or shelves/tables to put your pint on. In a 30k stadium, the capacity is inadequate (especially if they've got the unbelievable cheek to actually charge an entry fee in the other supporters bar). Ever been to Torquay United ? They have this at their ground:

Boots and Laces its called, and its great. A proper little pub at the ground, and that's in a ground that holds 6,500. Would it not have been feasible to have something more along those lines on a grander scale at the Amex, instead of our ultra-modernist soulless inadequate art-deco bar at Dicks ?

That looks great, and something a skilled team of shotfitters could knock up for The Seven Stars. Assuming there's not too many planning hoops to jump through, couldn't the club just lease the place out to Beefeater or Wetherspoons or similar and let them run with it? It could be argued that it would only be used 20 times a season, but I reckon that's a false argument. The Sportsman up at Withdean still seems to be surviving OK as a pub and carvery, seven days a week, even without the Albion.

 

[Easy 10]

Easy has posted dozens of times about the food on offer elsewhere and its interesting getting the different perspectives.
I also agree fully that the service is inconsistent, the range of food is limited, the specials often sell out and the queues can be daunting but often aren't.
However Easy wasn't saying that . He said the pies are mediocre, the club doesn't offer a "free to get in" bar inside the stadium, the catering is "out of 1976" and the queues are always "interminable" for everyone, always. Do you think that too ?

The pies IMO are mediocre, but its a moot point and down to personal opinion / experience I suppose.
I never said the club doesn't offer a "free to get in" bar. It does, but its poorly laid out, unwelcoming, and inadequate
Whilst we're not queuing past toilets in rivers of piss any more, the actual quality of the food and variety is barely any better than anything on offer at a football ground 30-40 years ago. I stand by that.
And if you think the queues are in any way swift and efficient in the WSU, then I can only assume you are getting there at least 90 minutes before kickoff, because that's certainly not my experience of them.

Other than that, I agree with every word.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I don't think £ 12 is too bad to get a decent bar, get served properly and swiftly with a match programme thrown in, so it is £ 8.50 really for 4 hours access before and after the game and not having to mix with all the riff raff, I will give it a try I think

 

[Diablo]

I don't think £ 12 is too bad to get a decent bar, get served properly and swiftly with a match programme thrown in, so it is £ 8.50 really for 4 hours access before and after the game and not having to mix with all the riff raff, I will give it a try I think

Haven`t read full thread but has anyone who`s been there commented.

 

[Easy 10]

I don't think £ 12 is too bad to get a decent bar, get served properly and swiftly with a match programme thrown in, so it is £ 8.50 really for 4 hours access before and after the game and not having to mix with all the riff raff, I will give it a try I think

You'll certainly have plenty of room there. And I very much doubt you'll ever encounter a queue at the bar.